edHelper.com Inventors and Inventions

A Mistake That Worked

---

A Mistake That Worked

A Short Reader

Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 3 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	3.8

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		engineer, demonstration, fine-tune, section, sleek, beginning, fell, early, minutes, simple, working, quickly, ship, price, neighborhood, public
	content words:		Richard James, Betty James, James Industries, Poof Products, Toy Industry Hall

---

Print A Mistake That Worked

Print A Mistake That Worked  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format

	Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
	Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format

Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

---

Feedback on A Mistake That Worked

Leave your feedback on A Mistake That Worked  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Other Languages
     Spanish: Un error que funcionó

---

A Mistake That Worked By Jody Williams

---

¹     Richard James was an engineer in the Navy in the early 1940s. He was working in his home lab. He was trying to create a new spring for a ship. The spring would keep special instruments safe while at sea. A spring fell to the floor. Richard James watched as it went end over end. That was the beginning of the Slinky.
 
²     Richard James shared his discovery with his wife. Her name was Betty James. They worked together to fine-tune the toy. Betty searched the dictionary until she found the perfect name for the toy. Slinky means sleek and graceful. She thought it was the perfect name.
 
³     At first, Betty was not sure the toy would be a success. They showed it to children in their neighborhood. The children were interested in it. Richard and Betty got a loan. They formed James Industries. Four hundred Slinky toys were made. Each toy was wrapped in yellow paper. Each was to be sold for one dollar. The couple tried to sell their toy to toy companies. Not many were interested. In 1945, they decided to show the toy to the public. The Jameses set up a demonstration in a popular department store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They set up an inclined plane in the toy section. The toy was a hit. All of the toys were sold in ninety minutes.

Paragraphs 4 to 5:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Inventors and Inventions

Inventors and Inventions

---

Social Studies

Social Studies

2004 Elections         2008 Elections         United States History and Theme Units         American Government         Ancient America         Ancient China         Ancient Egypt         Ancient Greece         Ancient India         Ancient Mesopotamia         Ancient Rome         Biographies         Canadian Theme Unit         Country Theme Units         Crime and Terrorism         Economics

European History: 1600s-1800s         Explorers         Famous Educators         Geography         Grades 2-3 Social Studies Wendy's World Series         History of Books and Writing         History of Mathematics         How Can I Help?         Inventors and Inventions         Middle Ages         Renaissance         World Religion         World War I         World War II         World Wonders

---

More Activities, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets

Back to School Graphic Organizers Alphabet Worksheets Sight Words Math Worksheets Mazes 50 States Monthly Themes January February March April May June July August September October November December

Fractions Place Value Time and Calendar Money Earth Day Solar System Analogies Nouns Following Directions Listening Capitalization Cursive Writing Patterns and Sequencing Dinosaurs All About Me Kindergarten First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade

Multiplication Division Main Idea Cause and Effect Measurement Decimals Rounding Order of Operations Verbs Community Helpers Adjectives Plants Grammar Addition and Subtraction Contractions Bulletin Board Ideas Word Searches Crossword Puzzles Printable Puzzles Reading Comprehension Reading Skills English Language Arts

Copyright © 2011 edHelper